[Hyack]

4-2 Vancouver ends a 3 game losing streak......next game will be Sunday when the Blue Jackets comes to town.

[Hyack]

Columbus at Vancouver

32

BLUE JACKETS (15-13-2) at CANUCKS (13-16-2)

The Canucks welcomed back top-pair defenseman Christopher Tanev for a win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday, but may be without rookie defenseman Troy Stecher against the Blue Jackets. Stecher, who is averaging almost 21 minutes of ice time and playing point on the top power-play unit, was listed as day-to-day by coach Willie Desjardins after missing practice Saturday. "He was sore after the game [Friday] night and I thought he might go this morning, but we wanted to keep him off," Desjardins said of Stecher. "You lose quite a bit, you lose a guy who has been running your first unit power play, he's logged big minutes and he competes so hard. The best part about Stecher, in my mind, is late in games when things get hard he plays his best, he gets his feet moving, he gets you out of your zone." Vancouver is trying to win consecutive games for the second time since a four-game win streak to open the season.

Puck drop at 1:00pm PT

[N_Fiddledog]

No Stech. Bad way to start the day.

Team Chaos versus the currently hottest team in hockey.

Don't know if I can bear to look on this one.

[Hyack]

Damn, 2-0 at the end of the 2nd period. The one thing the Canucks had going for themselves was a decent penalty killing squad, but that seems to be down the drain with them giving up 2 PP goals in the 2nd period tonight and, overall have given up 6 PP goals in the last 4 games......and we still have one period to go against the hottest team in the NHL when on the PP with a power play scoring average of 25.9%!

[Strutz]

Awwww... too bad. They looked pretty good in the third. Oh well a point anyway.

[Hyack]

Winnipeg at Vancouver

33

JETS (15-16-3) at CANUCKS (13-16-3)

The Canucks will be focused on the Jets top line of Nikolaj Ehlers, Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine that has a combined for 39 goals and 46 assists. "You have to pay special attention to them for sure," coach Willie Desjardins said. "That's one of the best lines in the League." Goalie Jacob Markstrom will start after Ryan Miller played the past two games. "I think our goalies play their best when they are fresh," Desjardins said. "Coming back off the trip we wanted to get Ryan going and he played well those two games but we feel like both goalies are solid so we'll go with both guys." Vancouver is 9-5-2 at Rogers Arena, four points behind Winnipeg in the Western Conference and are 1-0-1 since blowing a 5-2 third-period lead in an 8-6 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes that ended a five-game road trip on Dec. 13. "After that Carolina game we got home and said we needed to have a good homestand to get back into the playoff race," Christopher Tanev said. "We've done that so far so these are definitely two huge games we need to win."

Puck drop at 7:00pm PT

[Hyack]

Vancouver's 4-1 win over the Jets puts an end to Winnipeg's 4 game winning streak against the Canucks. These two teams meet again on Thursday with the 2nd of back to back home game for the Canucks who play again Friday in Calgary before a 5 day Christmas break.

[N_Fiddledog]

Yeah, that's great and all, but they're too far back to be seen as challenging for the Wildcard spot right now. That is, unless they do somehow miraculously win the next 2.

Oh well they're a come-from-behind team. Maybe that applies seasonally as well game by game. One can hope.

Speaking of hope, Anton Rodin is coming off his conditioning stint at Utica from Injured Reserve soon. They say he can score.

[N_Fiddledog]

Come to think of it Baertschi looks almost like he's rediscovering his scoring touch.

Just imagine if that happens, Eriksson clicks on and starts doing what he was brought here to do, and Rodin is the sniper they think he might be.

We might surprise everybody and have a team for the second half.

[Hyack]

Winnipeg at Vancouver

34

JETS (15-17-3) at CANUCKS (14-16-3)

Goalie Ryan Miller will start in net in the rematch against the Jets despite a 31-save performance from Jacob Markstrom in a 4-1 win against Winnipeg on Tuesday. Markstrom stopped 12 of 13, including a half-dozen scoring chances, in the first period. "You go a little bit on performance and for me it's more rest," coach Willie Desjardins said. "We said at the start of the year that Miller is our No.1." Miller was pulled after giving up six goals during an 8-6 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Dec. 13 to end a five-game road trip but stopped 25 in a 4-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday and made 21 saves in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday. "Miller's last game was good," Desjardins said. "I put Marky in (against Winnipeg) because I have confidence in him that he can play well. It's Miller's turn to go again so he's up." The Canucks have given up the first goal in 25 of 33 games this season. "We weren't very good, that's a pretty certain way to give the other team the lead," Jannik Hansen, who scored twice Tuesday and has three goals his past two games, said. Henrik Sedin will become the fourth Swedish player to play 1,200 NHL games.

Puck drop at 7:00pm PT

[Hyack]

Granlund opens the scoring for the Canucks.....

[Hyack]

Vancouver at Calgary

35

CANUCKS (14-17-3) at FLAMES (17-16-2)

Vancouver Canucks right wing Jannik Hansen is not expected to play after sustaining a lower-body injury in the second period of a 4-1 loss against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. "It's never fun, people getting injured, especially Jannik," goaltender Jacob Markstrom said. "He just got back in … from an injury, and he got hurt again. We'll see. They're going to check it out today. Hopefully it's not too bad." Forward Anton Rodin, who was recalled from a conditioning stint from Utica of the American Hockey League on Thursday, could make his NHL debut in Hansen's absence. Rodin, drafted by the Canucks in 2009, sustained a season-ending knee injury last January while playing for Brynas in the Swedish Hockey League, and had a setback in Canucks training camp. "He's super excited," Markstrom said. "He's a really good hockey player. He's been struggling with a really bad injury he had. I think it was good for him to go down for a week-and-a-half in Utica and play some games and really he feels like the knee is holding up. I just know he's very excited. I'm excited for him, too." Markstrom, who is 7-7-2 with a 2.63 goals against average and .908 save percentage, is expected to start.

Puck drop at 6:00pm PT

[Hyack]

The Canucks open the scoring again with Tryamkin scoring his first goal of the season at 8:25 into the 1st.

[Hyack]

7:25 left to go in the 2nd period and the Canucks get their first shot on goal, this after giving up a SHG to give the Flames a 2-1 lead. I was just getting ready for dinner but for whatever reason I've lost my appetite....

[Canadian_Mind]

Hyack Hyack:

7:25 left to go in the 2nd period and the Canucks get their first shot on goal, this after giving up a SHG to give the Flames a 2-1 lead. I was just getting ready for dinner but for whatever reason I've lost my appetite....

Want to come drink away your sorrows with me? Rye on the rocks.